Ghosts & Projectors. a reading series.

Ghosts & Projectors is a reading series that pairs emerging, innovative, and experimental writers with writers from the Treasure Valley. Since its founding in 2011, Ghosts & Projectors has welcomed poets such as Eileen Myles, Kate Greenstreet, CA Conrad, Cathy Park Hong, and Bhanu Kapil to Boise and has challenged and amused audiences with events like the Poetry Speakeasy and a Bad Poetry Reading.

Proudly sponsored by

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming events at this time.

History

Remember when the City of Boise sponsored an Artist-in-Residence program? It was pretty neat, and Ghosts & Projectors wouldn’t have happened without it. Like all AiR fellows, poet Megan Williams was required to complete some sort of project in exchange for six months of free studio space. After a year of attending all kinds of literary events around the Valley, she decided to see what Boise would think of a series that brought together the page, slam, experimental, lyrical, cowboy, and all other kinds of poets that never seem to be invited to the same readings. With this in mind, Ghosts & Projectors was born.

The first set of Ghosts & Projectors readings took place at the Cole/Marr Coffeehouse from March-September of 2011 and featured the work of local poets and translators. Starting with a reading by Philadelphia poet CA Conrad and then-Boise State MFA student Torin Jensen at Sun Ray Cafe in November of 2011, the series began pairing visiting poets with local writers thanks to funding from the Boise City Department of Arts & History. The series has maintained this format since.

CA Conrad reads from The Book of Frank, Sun Ray Cafe, 2011

Over the next six years, the series hosted a number renowned experimental, innovative, and student poets, including Cathy Park Hong, Brian Teare, Kate Greenstreet, Jane Hong, Tung Hui-Hu, Eileen Myles, and Bhanu Kapil at venues such as Hyde Park Books (RIP), The Crux (RIP), Solid Grill and Bar, MING Studios, and The Cabin. It evolved into a community-run series with the help of poets Ashley Barr, Catherine Kyle, Elena Tomorowitz, and Hannah Rodabaugh, who helped launch events like the Bad Poetry Reading and the annual Poetry Speakeasy.

Megan Williams with Eileen Myles at Storyfort, 2016

The name “Ghosts & Projectors” comes from Megan’s poem “Self-Portrait with Ghosts & Projectors” and refers to two of the ways poets position themselves in their work — as either a “ghost” dwelling within the language or as a “projector” shining outside the poem onto the language.

More Info

For more information about The Cabin’s Ghosts & Projectors’ series, contact Megan Williams at megan@thecabinidaho.org